Baba stated: "What you think to be freedom is not freedom; it is bondage," Baba stated. "By following my advice, you will become truly independent."
Ali agreed, and Baba told him to have a holiday for six months at Meherabad. Afterwards Baba had him employed in the Sarosh Motor Works, in Nasik.
On 11 March 1948, Baba took the women for their weekly early morning "cinema show" at Sarosh Theater. The Meherabad women joined them there as usual. He took them again on the 13th. Ghani moved from the Ice Factory Bungalow on the 11th and began staying at Khushru Quarters, with Adi Sr. Pappa Jessawala met Baba the next day to discuss his family's affairs.
On Sunday, 14 March, Baba traveled to Bombay in Elizabeth's green DeSoto, driven by Adi Sr. With them were Jalbhai and the Pimpalgaon women mandali. The women stayed with Arnavaz at her and Nariman's apartment, 69-C Ashiana. Baba, along with Jalbhai, Adi Sr. and Baidul, stayed at Meherjee's. Nariman likewise had to stay with the men mandali because the women were at his home.
From the 15th, Baba began his mast work in Bombay. He contacted eleven masts, all of whom were being contacted for the first time. Haji Nur Ahmad , an elderly Pathan mast, was among those contacted. Many years ago, this man had been a schoolteacher in Kurla, a suburb of Bombay, and taught his students about the Koran. One day he was overcome by an experience of God and left the school in a dazed state. He wandered about naked for twelve years, and finally settled in Bhendi Bazaar. After some years, and a pilgrimage to Mecca, Haji had become salik-like.
Baba also contacted Shah Saheb, who had a passion for chewing paan. Even though the mast's appearance was very dirty, his eyes were bright and clear and reflected his inner joy. Dhuniwala Baba's abode was on a street beside his collected rubbish. Naked in all weather except for a loincloth, he was usually seated before the flames of his dhuni.1
On the 17th, Baba contacted Ahmad Mastan , who was naked except for a sack around his waist. His abode was one of the most offensive places imaginable, a public urinal along a street. Also that day, Baba communed with Saiyid Nur Ali Shah , an old mast whose fingers were covered with an array of rings. Saiyid Nur Ali Shah wandered the streets of Bombay, talking to himself or uttering exclamations to God.
Footnotes
- 1.This Dhuniwala Baba is different from the famous Dhuniwala Baba of Saikhed, mentioned earlier.